Ninety-six overweight or obese adults were randomly allocated to a four-week EFT treatment or waitlist condition. Waitlist participants crossed over to the EFT group upon completion of wait period. Degree of food craving, perceived power of food, restraint capabilities, and psychological symptoms were assessed at pretreatment, posttreatment and at 12-month follow-up for combined EFT groups. Significant improvements in weight, body mass index, food cravings, subjective power of food, craving restraint and psychological coping for EFT participants from pretreatment to 12-month follow-up ( ) were reported. The current paper isolates the depression symptom levels of participants, as well as levels of eight other psychological conditions. Significant decreases from pre- to posttreatment were found for depression, interpersonal sensitivity, obsessive-compulsivity, paranoid ideation, and somatization ( ). Significant decreases from pretreatment to 12-month follow-up were found for depression, interpersonal sensitivity, psychoticism, and hostility. The results point to the role depression, and other mental health conditions may play in the successful maintenance of weight loss. 1. Introduction A number of studies have noted an association between depression and weight loss. A study of 487 obese individuals found that weight loss was associated with a sustained reduction in depressive symptom levels, noting that obesity “causes or exacerbates depression” [1, page 2058]. A ten-year follow-up of bariatric surgery patients found sustained improvements in depression though not in anxiety [2]. Depression levels are a predictor of weight regain after dieting [3]. EFT (emotional freedom techniques) combines elements of cognitive therapy, exposure therapy, and acupuncture point stimulation [4]. Rather than using acupuncture needles, it relies on manual stimulation of the acupoints which is typical of Shiatsu or other forms of acupressure massage. Pressure on acupoints has been found to be as efficacious as acupuncture needling [5]. EFT uses a tapping technique (with two fingers) to stimulate pressure points on the face and upper body and a cognitive element which involves the person stating their present concern out loud as they perform the tapping [4]. It is widely understood that the parts of the brain involved in hyperarousal include the amygdala, and recent studies of the use of EFT have indicated a decrease in amygdala and hippocampus activity [4]. EFT has an extensive research bibliography (http://www.EFTuniverse.com/) that includes successful treatment of a
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